


No big deal

by Nefariouscryptid



Category: Durante, Original Work
Genre: Anger, Arguing, F/M, M/M, Polyamory, References to Depression, Smoking, slightly obvious pining, whole lotta anger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28961298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nefariouscryptid/pseuds/Nefariouscryptid
Summary: : After the exposed assassination of head leader Ivanoff Frikoski’s wife, member of the Valentino family Plethora Valentino comes home 4 months later disheveled and in fear that this may trigger the beginning of the end. Enraged at the mental state and worries of his husband, Brian Valentino sets off to confront his higher up Peter Durante and demands both compensation and an explanation of what may be to come.
Relationships: Brian "Cooper" Valentino/Plethora Valentino/Cassandra Valentino, Peter Durante & Anahii Durante (mentioned), Peter Durante & Jason Byrne, Peter Durante/Jason Byrne
Kudos: 1





	No big deal

Peter took a long drag of his cigarette, something he’s become addicted to after the eye incident back in January. It numbed the dull pain in his eye, and while no longer needed, he welcomed the burning in his lungs with every smoke. He used the smoke to test his depth perception, something that has been ruined after losing sight. Proving to be a danger to his safety, Jason always accompanied him. Peter found himself enjoying it greatly, both for work purposes and more… personal desires. Lost in the haze of the smoke, he heard a door shut gently, followed by footsteps behind him and a warm, firm hand on his shoulder.

“You have a meeting with Mr. Valentino right now, he says it’s urgent,” said Jason.

“…And what gives him any authority on what is important to me?” Peter questioned, taking another long drag of his cigarette.

Jason released his hand from Peters shoulder and smirked, hearing the loud footsteps coming from the hallway, muffled shouts following.

“Because, and I’m quoting him, he will ‘blow our god damn brains out’ if he doesn’t see you immediately.” Both began to snicker at the absurdity of the statement, not because of any repercussions or lack of ability to do so, just because of how assertive of a statement it was for something probably insignificant.

“Yeah, right, like I will die at the hands of a man in his 30s with an eyebrow piercing,” Peter joked. Both laughed, leaning against each other before getting cut off by the sound of heavy wooden doors being slammed open. In front of them stood a disheveled and angry man, glaring at the two men at the desk. The three stared at each other for a few seconds, before Jason decided to break the silence.

“Brian, such a pleasure to see you on such short and rude notice. You’re lucky that we don’t have you terminated for not only the rude interruption, but for your colorful threats towards us if we didn’t meet your petty demands- “

“Is a compromised assassination _petty_ to you?” Brian spat back at him. He stayed in front of the now shut door, soft yellow lighting illuminating the creases in his face formed by extreme anger towards the two men in front of him. Still, he managed a low and quiet tone.

“Something tells me that a drug dealer wouldn’t care so much about an assassination gone wrong, unless it affected a certain… someone close to you.” Peter said. He narrowed his eyes at the man. “You’re here because of your husband, correct? He was the one who accompanied the crew and assassin, therefore he’s the real reason you’re here. Now I don’t know what he told you or how he is but quite frankly, I don’t give a shit. I’m not his or your therapist, and the fact you’re here making direct threats towards us after everything we’ve done for you and your family- “

“It concerns you when there’s rumors of retaliation, Durante!” Brian seethed back at him. He paused to regain composer, little tolerance already fading. He would be lying if he said he was here for business purposes only, like the thought of his husbands declined mental health and fears weren’t looming over his head, but personal values have no grab on those around him. Seeing the growing anger on both men’s faces, he sighed and stared at the ground, symbol of near desperation.

“… I simply came here to learn what happened. My husband’s health will forever be my main concern, but as far as we can all be concerned about, there’s a threat looming. The operation has been exposed to Frikoski, according to Plethora. Frikoski is not a man who takes attacks on him and his empire lightly. I assume you Durante would know that... considering…” Brian gestured towards Peter’s scarred eye. “…That. Now believe it or not, people that work under you have lives. And if you’re in danger, so are the rest of us.”

“I know men like you-“Brian paused, taking another deep breath to stop himself from further insulting them. “…I know you have better things to worry about, but your safety is in danger as well. And if yours is, so is your family. I don’t know your relationship with your wife, or... your friend there, but if you’re in trouble, so are they.”

Peter paused. He wasn’t feeling fear, not really, but something akin to it rose. He doesn’t care about his wife, he hasn’t for a long time. The only other person he’d be expected to show any concern over is Jason, and Brian would be right for assuming so. Jason looked back down to him, slight concern in his eyes from Brian’s words. Jason looked back up to Brian, who was closer to them now.

“What has made you come to these conclusions? If this is another one of your baseless threats- “

“You two terminated a lot of people after the assassination. Many being administrators, some coworkers of Plethora. As you can imagine, this made many of those people angry. Now you have two groups of people angry at you, SLATE assassin members, and Frikoski, including anyone else associated with him. Remember this Durante… your existence has a bounty over your head. And once you’re no longer useful to people, they’ll be no problem taking that bounty.” Brian got closer to them, leaning into Peters face, bracing his body on the dark wooden desk separating them. “… And to be on a more personal note… you’re very, very lucky I don’t take that bounty right now for getting my husband into this mess.”

“I would shut the fu- “

“Easy Jason… easy.” Peter waved to him. He directed his attention back to Brian, who was still glaring at Peter, stone cold. He realized that while it was obvious Brian’s concern was only for his husband and wife, he made a good argument. He remembered some administrators faces as he personally terminated them for their incompetence, one woman sticking out. An old you could say friend, Michelle Wilson. She had a look in her eyes that none of the other terminated members reciprocated. While everyone was notably pissed, she had a type of resentment that he couldn’t decipher. But other then that, he had no reason to believe anyone would have the balls to go against him, much less take him down. Even Brian had a hard time saying what he wanted to him. But with the resent proven incompetence of his associates…

“We will take your concerns into consideration, as they’re not as… baseless as they seemed.” Peter and Jason watched as Brian slowly retracted his hands from the desk and back away slowly, his expression losing more passionate emotion and being replaced with not content but slight ease. Brian, although noticeably biting his tongue, gave a small awkward smile. “Thank you, that’s all I wanted.” Another noticeable lie, as its obvious he would have wanted to bash the twos skulls into the wall, but Durante and Byrne looked past that for now.

“You are free to leave now. However, know that this is the last time we will be seeing each other again, as you’ve far outstayed your welcome for many years to come.” Peter said, glaring at Brian, resting his head in one hand and taking one last and long drag of his cig, blowing the smoke into Brian’s face. Watching the man cough and swat away at smoke, he commented, “Next time get your husband to say something to me, if it was such a concern. You have high power, you Valentino’s, act like it.”

Enraged, Brian used the rest of his willpower to storm out of the room, angrily muttering obscenities to himself. _“Fucking pompous shithead…_ ”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The room fell silent, Jason swaying back and forth on his feet and Peters cigarette being smashed onto the ashtray next to him being the only things heard. Jason coughed awkwardly.

“So… what are we going to do?”

“I’ll be honest with you, bud, no idea. I haven’t had anyone directly coming to me and informing me that someone’s possibly plotting our death. Normally these things sort themselves out. But, with our recent failure in letting other people do the work, might need to do this ourselves,” Peter said. He swirled in his chair to face Jason. “And as for what we do… no idea. I’m skeptical still, because since everything happened, nothing’s happened.”

Jason nodded, walking towards the window and sitting on ledge. “I don’t think Brian was wrong about something going down, hypothetically at least. But he’s still speaking from a standpoint of a husband who just watched his own husband come back from being in a bunker for 4 months,” Jason commented. “But it would be stupid to completely ignore it.”

“I agree, but I think for once in my life, I’m going to ignore it for now.”

“What?”

“I’m tired, Jason. I still can’t see, can’t even walk up the stairs, Anahii is being an even bigger pain then usual, and I’m tired of it. I can’t find it in myself to care right now. And if that’s stupid then so be it. It’s not like our whole jobs aren’t stupid. This is all- “, Peter gestured his arms to the room, filled with file cabinets, hidden security cams, and overly fancy interior that only someone with a billion dollars could _possibly_ afford, “-stupid.”

Jason stared at him incredulously before sighing, getting up and walking towards Peter, playing a gentle hand on his back for comfort. “I don’t think your hard work is stupid, and you’ll get used to your eye soon. Let me take care of this for now. And I can find good people that may know what to do.”

“It’s not the ‘hard work’ that I feel is stupid it’s- “

“-the depression.” Jason interrupted. “You’re clearly depressed, and it’s getting to your head.” Jason helped Peter get up, who looked like he wanted to argue but was too tired to do so.

“Let’s get out of here, chauffer is ready. The hotel is nice… Anahii isn’t here… just us and some Dom Perignon…” Jason grinned, walking out with Peter, trying to cheer him up.

“You’re such an alcoholic.” Peter joked, grinning at Jason. He slipped on his jacket, and for safety measures held onto Jason’s arm.

They both walked out of the office, greeted with blinding light reflecting off glass walls, and a hallway not filled with cigarette smoke. The atmosphere was light and contradicting the heavy knowledge they both now carried.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a school assignment, and it had to be 3 pages so that explains any pacing errors. I'm also having problems with formatting paragraphs on here cause it seems the tab key just doesn't work...


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